Richard Elphic

Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)

Division: Space Science and Astrobiology Division (ST)

Branch: Planetary Systems Branch (STT)

Email: Richard.c.elphic@nasa.gov

Phone: 650-604-4164

Professional Biography

Rick Elphic is a planetary scientist with interest in the delivery of water and other volatiles to the terrestrial planets. He was the Project Scientist for the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), which returned data on the Moon’s dust and gas environment. He is an expert in neutron spectroscopy and has been a member of the Lunar Prospector and Mars Odyssey gamma-ray/neutron teams. Rick is currently Principal Investigator of the Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) aboard the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) flight project. He is also PI for another of the same instrument flown and successfully operated aboard the Astrobotic Peregrine-1 lunar lander under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.  Finally, another NSS has been integrated into Carnegie Mellon University’s MoonRanger micro rover, awaiting flight on another CLPS opportunity.

Education

PhD in Geophysics and Space Physics, UCLA, 1982

MS in Geophysics and Space Physics, UCLA, 1978

BS in Astronomy, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, May, 1975

Research Interests

Planetary surface composition, early and late volatile delivery and sequestration on the terrestrial planets.  Technologies for detecting water and other volatiles on and under the surface on landed missions.

Select Publications

Elphic, R. C., G. T. Delory, B. P. Hine, P. R. Mahaffy, M. Horanyi, A. Colaprete, M. Benna, S. K. Noble and the LADEE Science Team, The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer Mission (2015), Space Sci. Rev., doi: 10.1007/s11214-014-0113-z.

Elphic, R. C., J. L. Heldmann, M. M. Marinova, A. Colaprete, E. L. Fritzler, R. E. McMurray, S.  Morse, T. L. Roush, C. R. Stoker, M. C. Deans, T. F. Smith, Simulated real-time lunar volatiles prospecting with a rover-borne neutron spectrometer (2015), Adv. Space Res., 55, 2438–2450, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2015.01.035.

Elphic, R. C., P. Chu, S. Hahn, M. R. James, D. J. Lawrence, T. H. Prettyman, J. B. Johnson, and R. K. Podgorney, Surface and downhole prospecting tools for planetary exploration: Tests of neutron and gamma ray probes (2008), Astrobiology, 8(3): 639-652. doi:10.1089/ast.2007.0163.

NASA Missions

Lunar Prospector, Mars Odyssey, LRO, LADEE, VIPER, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission-1.

Awards & Others

NASA Group Achievement Award, LCROSS LRO Measurements Team, 2010

NASA Group Achievement Award, LRO Diviner Radiometer Team, 2013

NASA Group Achievement Award, LADEE, 2014